DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS IAS | UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 7th May 2022

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Syllabus

• Prelims – Economy (Important surveys, reports)
• Mains –GS 2 (Governance – Health)

Why in News: The national report of the NFHS-5, released by the Union Health Ministry.

Highlights

Total Fertility Rate:

• The Total Fertility Rate (TFR), the average number of children per woman, has further declined from 2.2 to 2.0 at the national level between National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 4 and 5.
• There are only five States — Bihar (2.98), Meghalaya (2.91), Uttar Pradesh (2.35), Jharkhand (2.26) Manipur (2.17) — in India which are above the replacement level of fertility of 2.1

Institutional Births

• Institutional births increased from 79% to 89% across India and in rural areas around 87% of births being delivered in institutions and the same is 94% in urban areas.

Under Age Marriage

• While the national average of underage marriages has come down, the rate has increased in Punjab, West Bengal, Manipur, Tripura, and Assam
• 3% of women surveyed got married before attaining the legal age of 18 years, down from 26.8% reported in NFHS-4. The figure for underage marriage among men is 17.7% (NFHS-5) and 20.3% (NFHS-4)
• Tripura has seen the largest jump in marriages under the legal age of 18 years for women from 33.1% (NHFS-4, conducted 2015-1) to 40.1%, and from 16.2% to 20.4% among men.
• Underage marriages are lowest in J&K, Lakshadweep, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Goa, Nagaland, Kerala, Puducherry and Tamil Nadu
• Teenage pregnancies, the Survey reports, is down from 7.9% to 6.8%
• According to NFHS-5, women who are employed are more likely to use modern contraception. The data says 66.3% of women who are employed use a modern contraceptive method, compared with 53.4% of women who are not employed.

Immunization

• More than three-fourths (77%) of children aged between 12 and 23 months were fully immunized, compared with 62% in NFHS-4.

Stunting

• The level of stunting among children less than five years has marginally declined from 38% to 36% in the country since the last four years. Stunting is higher among children in rural areas (37%) than urban areas (30%) in 2019-21.

Women Empowerment

Decision Making: The extent to which married women usually participate in three household decisions (about health care for herself; making major household purchases; visit to her family or relatives) indicates that their participation in decision-making is high, ranging from 80% in Ladakh to 99% in Nagaland and Mizoram. Rural (77%) and urban (81%) differences are found to be marginal.

Financial Inclusion: The prevalence of women having a bank or savings account has increased from 53% to 79% in the last four years.

Domestic violence has come down marginally from 31.2% in 2015-16 to 29.3% in 2019-21

Obesity

• Compared with NFHS-4, the prevalence of overweight or obesity has increased in most States/UTs in NFHS-5. At the national level, it increased from 21% to 24% among women and 19% to 23% among men. More than a third of women in Kerala, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Sikkim, Manipur, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Punjab, Chandigarh and Lakshadweep (34-46 %) are overweight or obese.

National Family Health Survey (NFHS):

• The NFHS is a large-scale, multi-round survey conducted in a representative sample of households throughout India.

Conducted By:

• The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) has designated the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS) Mumbai, as the nodal agency for providing coordination and technical guidance for the survey.
• IIPS collaborates with a number of Field Organizations (FO) for survey implementation

Funding:

• The funding for different rounds of NFHS has been provided by USAID, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, UNICEF, UNFPA, and MoHFW (Government of India).

History of NFHS

Objective: The main objective of each successive round of the NFHS has been to provide high-quality data on health and family welfare and emerging issues in this area.

• The NFHS-1 was conducted in 1992-93.
• The NFHS-2 was conducted in 1998-99 in all 26 states of India.
• The NFHS-3 was carried out in 2005-2006
• The NFHS-4 in 2014-2015

Previous Year Questions (PYQs)

Q.1) As per the NSSO 70th Round “Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households”, consider the following statements

1. Rajasthan has the highest percentage share of agricultural households among its rural households.
2. Out of the total agricultural households in the country, a little over 60 percent belong to OBCs.
3. In Kerala, a little over 60 percent of agricultural households are reported to have received maximum income from sources other than agricultural activities.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1. 2 and 3 only
2. 2 only.
3. 1 and 3 only.
4. 1, 2 and 3

Source: The Hindu & Indian Express

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Syllabus

• Prelims – Economy
• Mains – GS (Statutory, Regulatory and various Quasi-judicial Bodies)

In News: Axis Asset Management Company, which manages assets worth Rs 259,818 crore, suspended two fund managers for various irregularities, including front-running the AMC’s transactions on their personal accounts.

• Front-running, which is illegal in India, involves purchasing a stock based on advance non-public information regarding an expected large transaction that will affect the price of the share.
• When mutual funds make a big order, some fund managers buy the same shares in their personal accounts before executing the MFs’ order. When MFs purchase in huge quantities, the price of the share is expected to go up.
• SEBI has categorised front running as a form of market manipulation and insider trading because a person who commits a front running activity expects security’s price movements based on the non-public information.

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)

• SEBI is a statutory body established in 1992 in accordance with the provisions of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992.
• The basic functions of the Securities and Exchange Board of India is to protect the interests of investors in securities and to promote and regulate the securities market.

Structure

• SEBI Board consists of a Chairman and several other whole time and part time members.
• A Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) has been constituted to protect the interest of entities that feel aggrieved by SEBI’s decision.

Powers and Functions of SEBI

• SEBI is a quasi-legislative and quasi-judicial body which can draft regulations, conduct inquiries, pass rulings and impose penalties.

It functions to fulfill the requirements of three categories –

• Issuers – By providing a marketplace in which the issuers can increase their finance
• Investors – By ensuring safety and supply of precise and accurate information
• Intermediaries – By enabling a competitive professional market for intermediaries
• By Securities Laws (Amendment) Act, 2014, SEBI is now able to regulate any money pooling scheme worth Rs. 100 cr. or more and attach assets in cases of non-compliance.
• SEBI Chairman has the authority to order “search and seizure operations”.

Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT)

• SAT is a statutory body established under the provisions of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992.
• SAT consists of a Presiding Officer and two other Members.
• It has the same powers as vested in a civil court. Further, if any person feels aggrieved by SAT’s decision or order can appeal to the Supreme Court.

Previous Year Questions (PYQs)

Q.1) Which one of the following best describes the term “Merchant Discount Rate” sometimes seen in the news?

1. The incentive given by a bank to a merchant for accepting payments through debit cards pertaining to that bank.
2. The amount paid back by banks to their customers when they use debit cards for financial transactions for purchasing goods or services.
3. The charge to a merchant by a bank for accepting payments from his customers through the bank’s debit cards.
4. The incentive given by the Government, to merchants for promoting digital payments by their customers through Point of Sale (PoS) machines and debit cards

Source: Indian Express

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Syllabus

• Prelims – Polity
• Mains – GS 2 (Centre-State Relations)

Why in News: SC referred Delhi-Centre dispute over control of services to five-judge Constitution bench

Background

• The proceedings have their genesis in the Delhi High Court judgment of 2017, whereby it held that for the purposes of administration of the NCT of Delhi, the L-G was not bound by the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers in every matter.
• On appeal, the SC in 2017 referred the matter to decide on the interpretation of Article 239AA.
• By a majority decision in 2018, the Constitution bench upheld the respective powers of the state Assembly and the Parliament.
• It said that while the council of ministers must communicate all decisions to the L-G, this does not mean that the latter’s concurrence is required. In case of a difference of opinion, the L-G can refer it to the President for a decision.
• The L-G has no independent decision-making power but has to either act on the ‘aid and advice’ of the Council of Ministers or is bound to implement the decision of the President on a reference being made
• Thus the bench limited itself to the interpretation of Article 239AA, left individual issues to be decided by regular benches
• In 2019 two judge benches upheld two notifications issued by the Centre which had the effect of excluding the jurisdiction of the Delhi government’s Anti-Corruption Branch from probing offences committed by the central government officials and limiting it to employees of the Delhi government.
• However, the judges, differed on who should have control over administrative services
• This was challenged again in the SC where the Centre contended that the two judges could not take a decision on the question as the 2018 Constitution bench judgment had not interpreted the expression “insofar as any such matter as applicable to Union Territories” appearing in Article 239AA. Thus prompting SC to refer the issue to larger constitutional bench

Previous Year Questions (PYQs)

Q.1) Which Article of the Constitution of India safeguards one’s right to marry the person of one’s choice?

1. Article 19
2. Article 21
3. Article 25
4. Article 29

Source: Indian Express

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Syllabus

• Mains – GS 1 (Salient features of Indian Society, Diversity of India)

In news: two tribal men were beaten to death in Madhya Pradesh, on the suspicion that they were slaughtering cows.

What is cow vigilantism?

Cow vigilante violence involves mob attacks in the name of “cow protection,” targeting mostly Muslims, Dalits, and tribals.

Reported incidences of cow vigilantism

• Rajasthan – A dairy farmer from Haryana was beaten to death by a mob of alleged cow vigilantes.
• Haryana – 15-year-old Muslim boy was stabbed on board a train, allegedly for beef-eating
• Gujarat – Cow vigilantes publicly flogged a Dalit family for skinning a dead cow.
• A Muslim man died after being assaulted by alleged cow vigilantes for transporting two animals.

Impact on society

• It is promoting violence in the country by bestowing social, moral, and legal legitimacy to the so-called cow protectors
• It damages the secular inclusiveness of Indian society by targeting particular communities of the country
• Economic impact – leather makers, tanners, and beef produces have been badly hit
• Stigmatization of communities such as Dalits, Muslims, and tribals for their dietary habits and their dependence on cattle products for a livelihood.

Supreme Court stand

• In 2005, the Supreme Court had justified the total ban on cattle slaughter by an expansive interpretation of the directive principles of state policy, and by relying on Articles 48, 48A, and 51(A) of the Constitution, which seeks to preserve breeds used in agriculture and animal husbandry, explicitly prohibiting the slaughter of cows and calves and other milch and draught cattle, besides promoting compassion to animals.
• In recent years, Supreme Court has also raised its concern to stop the attacks on innocents in the name of cow vigilantism and has issued some directions
• It ordered the States and the Union Territories to appoint nodal police officers in every district to crack down on such groups
• It has also asked states to file status reports on what they are doing to prevent vigilantism.
• The court exhorted the Centre to uphold its constitutional mandate under Article 256 of co-operative federalism and direct the States to act against the groups.
• The court also directed the Chief Secretaries and Directors General of Police to take steps to protect the highways from vigilante mobs.

Steps to be taken

• Complete ban order must be checked against its economic impact and it must be reconstituted based on rational inputs
• A speedy trails and fair justice must be ensured to victims of the cow vigilantism
• The strong political will to uphold the rule of law
• Rajasthan, Jharkhand, West Bengal, and Manipur had passed laws against lynching, this can be adopted by other states too
• Identifying high-risk areas in every state and enforcing moral and community policing there helps fight such anti-social elements
• Stringent implementation of the Supreme Court’s direction

Indian society is an amalgamation of different religions, ethnic, cultures, and values. Keeping the right balance in this multi-featured society is very important. Our society, government, and civil society organization, all need to work in tandem to ensure violence in the name of cows does not happen.

Source: The Hindu